Inflation partly explains this increase, but since the supermarket chain does not fully pass on cost inflation to the customer, the profit margin suffers.
In its half-yearly report published on Tuesday evening, Colruyt also points to the sharp increase in operational costs, driven by energy and transport costs as well as employee benefits “which are greatly influenced by the automatic salary indexation system in Belgium “. The main effect of salary indexation is also expected in the second half (from October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023).
The operating result and the profit therefore melted. Ebit is now only 123 million euros, or 2.3% of turnover (compared to 4.2% in the 1st half of 2021-2022) and profit has fallen below 90 million euros. euros against 162 million a year ago.
Debt increased to 709 million euros, as Colruyt continued its investments, amounting to 228 million euros between April and September, among other things to build or renovate stores and expand its logistics capacity in Belgium and France .
“Colruyt’s results are under significant pressure”, analyzes CEO Jef Colruyt. “The coming months will remain very challenging, with the gloomy macroeconomic outlook continuing to influence consumer buying behavior. »
According to the group’s forecasts, the consolidated result will decrease considerably in 2022-2023 compared to 2021-2022. Colruyt expects a fall over the whole year, as significant as that noted during the first six months of the financial year.